A Tandragee man who sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl has been spared prison.
Patrick John Nixon, of Castle Rise in Tandragee, appeared before Armagh Magistrates’ Court – sitting in Newry – on Tuesday, charged with sexual assault on a date between May 22 and June 3, 2023.
The 61-year-old was found guilty of the charge following an earlier contest hearing, which District Judge Anne Marshall said was run in a “most unusual and egregious manner”.
Prosecutor Emma Fearon told the court that the young girl had received text messages from Nixon “that made her feel uncomfortable”, in which the defendant said “he wanted to kiss her”.
Later that same evening, at approximately 9.45pm, Nixon told the injured party “how special she was to him”, before “forcing his lips onto her, to which she told him ‘no’”.
“However,” Ms Fearon stated, “he continued to try and kiss her.”
Defence barrister Seamus Lannon said his client’s behaviour on the night in question “was folly from the minute it started”.
Mr Lannon said: “It was irresponsible and it was wholly inappropriate, and the excuse has been offered in the [pre-sentence] report that it was seated in his engagement with alcohol that particular evening.
“As he comes before the court, he now presents as a broken man; that there will be a punishment for him, and it will continue to be a punishment for him, because he knows that there are certain prices to be paid, in terms of legal prices, but also in terms of social prices, and he already has felt the brunt of a social backlash against him as a consequence of that.”
The barrister said the former pub landlord “now finds himself at 61 years of age with no source of income”.
“He’s put his family in jeopardy because they also are secondary victims of the situation; he’s put himself in jeopardy through no fault of anyone other than himself… that there will be an ongoing price to be paid.
“His family are trying to do their best to protect themselves and to protect him, and there is a balancing exercise. It’s a very difficult balancing exercise for them.
“But for my part, I’m instructed to wish [the victim] well in her recovery. He apologises for his conduct on the day in question and he’s deeply remorseful of the consequences for her and for himself.”
District Judge Anne Marshall, in addressing Nixon, said: “Your counsel described this as ‘a folly’ and ‘inappropriate’, which I consider to be the understatement of the century. It was criminal behaviour.”
She added: “There was an element of grooming in relation to this case by the text messages that were sent asking her for a kiss.”
Judge Marshall stated she did not think Nixon had shown “full and genuine remorse”.
“You’re minimising your behaviour in the pre-sentence report,” she said.
“This contest was run in the most unusual and egregious manner, where you made a case to the police that you did not sexually assault her. In your interview, you said it didn’t happen and that you didn’t remember sending the text to this young lady.
“This young lady was subjected to lengthy cross-examination over a considerably long and distressing period for her, when, most unusually, a consent case was put, which had not been made at interview. A half-time application was made [which was refused].
“There was an abundance of evidence from the extremely credible and consistent young witness… there was also the corroborating evidence in terms of the text.
“Having denied this to the police, the case was then put to her that she had consented to this, and then you took the coward’s way out and you didn’t get into the witness box.”
The judge said she came to the “extremely firm” conclusion “without any shadow of a doubt that she did not [consent]”.
“So you get no credit for anything in terms of your conduct in this case, which ran as a contest in that particularly poor fashion, which hopefully won’t be repeated.”
At the time of the sexual assault, Nixon was already on probation for offences of domestic violence against his wife.
“The report records her [his wife’s] annoyance, upset and anger,” remarked Judge Marshall.
“I’m concerned in the report that you’ve been working, and indeed, on the night in question, you were at a local football club where you were a coach for the local youth team. Hopefully that doesn’t remain the case now?
“I don’t think you’ve fully taken responsibility for it yet, and you certainly haven’t fully shown remorse. It says you continue to deny that you tried to kiss her. So what you’re remorseful for, I’m led to believe, is possibly the fact that you’ve ended up in the court here.”
A victim impact statement referenced the injured party’s “fear, disgust and distress”, and spoke of her “shame and anxiety”.
Said Judge Marshall: “She should not feel any shame. Any shame in this case is to be felt by the defendant and the defendant alone. She did absolutely nothing wrong and has absolutely nothing to feel any shame about.
“Understandably, she now feels scared around older men… [and] she was forced to revisit the trauma by having to give evidence in court.”
Nixon was handed five months in custody but had that suspended for a period of three years. He was also made subject to a five-year Sexual Offences Prevention Order and placed on the Sex Offenders Register for a period of seven years.
He was further ordered to pay the victim £1,000 compensation “as a contribution towards all of the costs that this young lady has had to incur, having to attend counselling”.
